Bravo by Psaros – Oxford Street, Mt Hawthorn, Perth.

2017 MBA WA Award Winner ~ Excellence in Energy Efficiency

Bravo by Psaros is a unique mixed-use architecturally designed low-carbon development featuring two ground floor commercial lots and twenty-two residential dwellings consisting of sixteen apartments within two adjoining apartment block towers and six townhouses.

The building has been designed to achieve a high 7 Star rating average and has done this through maximised cross ventilation, with open central areas between each floor. The design provides excellent orientation, locating living areas and bedrooms to the north to allow capture of winter sun to naturally heat the units.

What makes this development a stand out is the careful consideration to functionality and overall global warming potential (GWP)through use of internationally recognised EN15978 for Life Cycle Design and Assessment, ensuring measurement of embodied ‘cradle to grave’ impacts and operational impacts for the life of the building were identified at design stage and suitable options to reduce this impact implemented.

Furthering Psaros commitment to building performance, an audit using the same Life Cycle methodology was conducted 12 months post construction including an assessment of dwelling occupancy and common area operational data.

“The increased efficiency of the building resulted in an approx. $20,000 savings on energy costs per year according to the as measured results from the audit. That is a 58 per cent energy savings compared to an equivalent, code compliant building, leading to savings of approx. $500 for every resident a year” said Mike Enslin, Psaros Managing Director and passionate advocate of ESD.

Importantly, the energy cost savings achieved match the prediction during early design stages resulting in around 10,000 tonnes less CO2 emitted than standard buildings; equivalent to 1,295 zero energy homes for a year or 2,555 cars off the road for a year.

Building design teams, environmentally sustainable design engineers and technical consultants all collaborated to ensure the environmental impacts were measured and overall sustainability outcomes including energy efficiency of the buildings were improved. The developer has been committed to understanding just how effective the investment in environmental design and technology has been by also assessing the building performance during occupancy.

Psaros’ Corporate and Built Form Sustainability Advisor, Chiara Pacifici confirmed that the building was almost electricity-neutral “It’s very encouraging to see a developer use quantitative and scientific evidence to demonstrate just how a green apartment building outperforms all other comparable buildings ”, she said. “This reaffirms the leadership approach Psaros took over 5 years ago”.

Developer Overview

Since 2013, Psaros have over 16 large scale ‘green’ apartment buildings completed or under construction and are delivering the largest number of solar powered, sustainably designed low carbon apartments in the country. Totalling over 700+ apartments, this is the largest number of green apartments to enter the market globally, generating renewable energy and taking advantage of enhanced solar passive design.

Beyond the capital investment of implementing sustainability infrastructure in the building, Psaros have also developed a number of educational tools and programs to activate occupants, including tenants, to live greener, more sustainable lifestyles and support their on-going learning.

In an Australian first, Psaros have initiated a vertical community engagement program specifically designed for apartment residents. ‘Psaros Place – Green Apartment Living Program’helps to empower residents to take advantage of the sustainability features embedded in their apartment and help people better connect with their neighbours – building better vertical communities.